Private Warning and Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace (07/22/08).
07/22/2008
Although the judge agreed to accept the transfer of the plaintiff's small claims case, he unreasonably delayed the resolution of the case, denied the litigant his right to be heard, and denied the litigant access to the courts by failing to communicate with the transferring court, located across the hall, as to the legal status of the case, which had mistakenly been closed by the clerk of the transferring court. When the plaintiff, out of frustration, filed a new statement of claim in the judge's court and paid another filing fee, the judge refunded plaintiff's filing fee and transferred the new case back to the original court where the judge erroneously believed the first case was still pending. This unnecessary action further delayed the processing and resolution of plaintiff's case. [Violation of Canons 3B(2), 3B(8) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct and Article V, Section 1-a(6)A of the Texas Constitution.] Private Warning and Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace (07/22/08).
